


Cristalline waters

by UndeadFae



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, MerMay, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Sappy Ending, mermaid au, teikokuweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24419647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndeadFae/pseuds/UndeadFae
Summary: Life changes a lot when you're welcoming a merfolk in it, especially when you're a pirate always on the run. Neither of them seems to care too much.Day 4 of teikokuweek: Beach
Relationships: Genda Koujirou/Sakuma Jirou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Cristalline waters

**Author's Note:**

> AYYYY MERMAID AUS  
> I'm gonna write more of these. I say, at the end of mermay

“Sakuma! Sakuma! Come on, wake up! Sa-ku-ma!”

Sakuma loudly groaned, turning around and pulling the blanket all the way over his head. Not like it helped much against the pouting shark shaking him to get him out of bed.

“Alright, alright- I’m awake now, you wet ass!” Reluctantly, Sakuma pushed the blankets away and sat up, weakly glaring at him. Koujirou was just innocently smiling at him, water dripping all over the floor after his usual morning swim, not caring enough to dry himself before getting water all over the ship. Why he couldn’t be bothered to switch from merfolk to human to get around, Sakuma still couldn’t understand, sighing and resigning himself to having to clean up water once again.

Looking at Koujirou's big, bright smile, sharp teeth included, was enough to make him feel like all the pain and little annoying things were worth it.

He remembered their first meeting, a raid on a noble’s mansion by the sea, a perfect target despite its heavy security. Their ego was always too big for their own good, so high and mighty they thought they were untouchable, allowed to do whatever they wanted without consequences. They were low on supplies and in need of money after so long sailing without seeing land or ship, not yet desperate enough to recklessly go for any target, but Sakuma preferred to be cautious and prepare ahead of time.

When the crew raided the manor, Sakuma decided to go ahead on his own, always the daring captain putting his life on the line first to ensure the safety of his crew. Once they split up to find their loot, Sakuma walked through the halls in search of any possible threat left. The guards had been taken care of for the most part, either by his crew or just running away once the odds were clearly against them. This place might as well be theirs by now.

He only stopped when he heard a commotion coming from a nearby room, now quiet and on alert, a hand slowly reaching for his pistol as he peeked in.

Two guards were standing by a tank, struggling to pull… something out of it. Sakuma couldn’t tell what was going on among all the water, screams, hisses and general confusion, but he wasn’t about to let them hurt whatever had been in that tank, especially not when he caught one of them yelling at the other about having to get their master’s pet out of the place before the pirates could get to it. That was it.

All it took was two well aimed shots. They were too busy fighting the creature into submission to even realize he was there until it was too late. As the bodies collapsed and the blood spilled on the polished marble floor, Sakuma lowered his pistol, ensuring no one would be coming any time soon before putting it away to step closer to the tank. Then, he finally saw the creature. A shark-like merfolk, curled into the further corner of the tank like trying to hide from him in what little space he had available, glaring and hissing at him.

His reaction worried Sakuma, but not as much as the countless scars and still healing wounds he could find, just as bad as his skinny frame, ribs painfully visible and easy to count. The merfolk was baring his fangs, fight or flight instinct flaring. Sakuma didn’t need any more clues to put two and two together, his blood boiling at the realization.

He had heard of the rich bastards enjoying bloody sports of all kinds, the fighting rings with all sort of creatures being some of the most popular. He never thought he’d ever see one of the victims of such a tragedy in person, much less that he’d be the one to have to get him out of there.

“Hey… it’s alright, I don’t want to hurt you-” before he could even be done talking, the shark hissed at him, ready to fight for his life if he had to. If there wasn’t the glass wall separating them, Sakuma was sure he would already have been gutted. Taking a deep breath, he decided to try again. He wasn’t going to just leave while he was still trapped there. “I know you can’t trust me, but I promise- I won’t hurt you, nor will any of my crew members.” The merfolk still glared, waiting like Sakuma would be attacking him at any given chance. Sakuma couldn’t really blame him.

Time for another approach, then.

Sakuma slowly reached for his weapons, stopping when he heard a growl. Suddenly he was acutely aware of the many deep scratches and cracks in the thick glass. He wondered how long he had to attack it for that to happen.

Regardless, he kept going, finally taking his weapons and leaving them on the floor, pushing them away enough to be out of reach. The growling stopped, the merfolk now limiting himself to narrowing his eyes at him. That was progress- maybe.

Next, Sakuma reached for his bag, placing it on the floor in clear view and opening it. Under the merfolk’s watchful eyes, Sakuma pulled out an apple, tossing it inside the tank.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?” At first, the merfolk just refused to acknowledge the fruit, letting it sink to the bottom and looking away. So he was a stubborn one? Just his luck. “Just take it- you need to eat something.”

It took far too long in his eyes, but eventually the merfolk gave in to his hunger, snatching the apple and taking huge bites off it. A bit hesitantly, Sakuma pushed another apple into the tank, letting the merfolk eat at his own pace.

“… Why?” Sakuma blinked, looking up from his bag. The merfolk was staring at him, what was left of his apple clutched in his hands, waiting for an answer. He almost wanted to ask just what they had done to him to make him even consider talking to someone who was just kind enough to give him a scrap of food.

“Why not? You need help… I won’t stand by and let this happen if I can stop it.” He knew enough about imprisonment and feeling helpless to want to spare others from that fate.

“You _humans_ are always trying to take us.” He spat out that word like it was poison, temper flaring once again.

“I know. I know you’ve been hurt by humans, I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but… I promise, I swear it on my life- I want to help you. I want to get you back where you belong, if you’ll let me.”

The merfolk went quiet, like still trying to list more reasons to never trust him with his life. Sakuma didn’t blame him, even though he was starting to worry about maybe needing to tell his crew to go ahead and go back to their ship without him.

After what felt like hours, he sighed.

“… Fine- but I’ll rip your throat out if you try anything!” Well, fair enough.

“Understood.”

Whatever Sakuma expected to happen after accidentally meeting the merfolk- Koujirou… it certainly wasn’t what he ended up getting. He wasn’t about to complain, though.

* * *

Sakuma yawned and groaned as he pushed himself up, lazily stretching and taking his time to fully wake up. Koujirou was watching him, pouting as his tail slapped against the floor, too much like a dog’s tail for Sakuma to take him seriously.

“I’m getting ready- just wait a little longer, alright?”

“Fiiiine...” he was very much not fine with it. Sakuma rolled his eye, fixing his clothes and looking around for his eye patch, only stopping for a moment to lean down and kiss his merfolk right on the lips, a hand gently brushing his wet hair. That apparently helped, Koujirou stopping his sulking to blink and look up at him in surprise.

“Better now?” Koujirou was still pouting, trying to hide and deny the blush on his cheeks. Sakuma would consider that a victory.

“… Yes.”

Once he was ready to step outside and look like a decent human being again, Sakuma rubbed his eye, trying to put up his best impression of a capable leader before opening the door. Koujirou quickly followed, dragging himself on the floor right behind him. No one was sure why he kept doing that when he could’ve just changed forms and walked around, but they weren’t about to tell him what to do. Not like he would’ve listened anyways. As long as he was happy, no one really cared.

The day went on as usual, checking the maps, making sure they weren’t off path, keeping watch for any possible enemy. At some point, Koujirou had gotten bored of following Sakuma around, deciding to jump into the water and go for a swim instead, right after promising Sakuma that he would be careful- nearly losing a fin once was more than enough.

Some time later, Koujirou came back swimming at full speed, nearly throwing himself at Sakuma as soon as he was back on the deck.

“There’s an island that way! Can we go?”

“I don’t know… we don’t even know if it’s saf-”

“It is.” Sakuma blinked. He sounded pretty convinced about it… then, Sakuma narrowed his eye.

“Wait- did you already go there?”

“No!” Sakuma glared. Koujirou flinched, sheepishly looking away. “… Yes…? But- really, there’s no one there, it’s deserted- we can just stop there, get supplies and food and then leave!”

Sakuma just let out a long sigh. If there was one thing he had learned in all this time, was just how stubborn Koujirou can be. He’d either keep asking or start sulking once they were far away enough.

“… I guess there’s no harm in stocking up a bit…” Koujirou immediately perked up upon hearing that. “But just for a few hours, alright? Even if there actually isn’t anyone, we can’t just stay there. Got it?” He eagerly nodded. Sakuma only hoped he was really listening.

Just keeping Koujirou on the ship long enough to even spot the island was a challenge- a merfolk out of water shouldn’t be so slippery, really.

Sure enough, there was soon an island in sight. Now no one could hold back Koujirou anymore, the merfolk already in the water before they could actually reach land. It didn’t take much longer to get there on the ship, most of the crew getting off as soon as they touched land, each one busy doing their own thing. As long as they actually remembered to get food and find supplies like they meant to, Sakuma was fine with them goofing off- not like they wouldn’t anyways.

Once he was sure they weren’t getting in trouble, Sakuma decided to walk alongside the shore, enjoying the fresh air and scent of the sea. He only stopped when he stumbled upon a beach rock formation. A perfect spot to relax.

After taking off his boots and rolling up the legs of his pants, Sakuma sat on a rock by the water, dipping his feet in the water, far away enough to have some peace at least for a little while. He had to admit, the island was nice, a much needed break from the constant danger permeating their lives.

His peace and silence didn’t last long.

Right as he was starting to fully relax and even doze off, laying down on the rock, it hit him. The biggest splash of water anyone could manage, cold and salty and making him immediately sit up wheezing and coughing and spluttering as he tried to get the sea water out of his mouth.

Then, he heard the laughter coming from the water. When he finally pushed his now soaked hair out of the way, he spotted Koujirou in the water, head barely peeking above the water and big grin in plain sight. Sakuma could only roll his eye and sigh, Koujirou still snickering at his expenses. With that, Sakuma just grinned, much more malicious, as he took off his coat and laid it on the rocks. Then, he jumped in the water.

Turns out, play fighting a merfolk in their natural habitat was not easy. Sakuma didn’t care, still trying to tackle and hold onto Koujirou between screams and laughter, even as he slipped from his grasp and returned the favor. The fight was over as soon as Koujirou managed to grab him, hold him close and press his lips against his in a kiss. Sakuma quickly turned into a blushing, spluttering mess, only made worse when he felt the tail brushing again his leg, wrapping around it as much as possible.

“I win.” Sakuma rolled his eye, putting a hand on Koujirou's face to push him away like that was enough to hide just how flustered he was.

“Yeah, right- I-I just let you win!”

“Suuuure… I guess you didn’t want a kiss that much, then-”

“S-shut up!” He tried to splash Koujirou in revenge, even when that wouldn’t exactly work with someone who spends nearly all his life in the water. As expected, Koujirou was not impressed.

“… Do you want to swim?” Sakuma stopped trashing in the water to think. Then, he nodded- he was already soaked anyways. Besides… he enjoyed swimming with Koujirou.

It had been something tricky to get used to, the merfolk not knowing how to control his own strength when carrying someone else, but they managed. It quickly became one of their favorite things to do together, Sakuma wrapping an arm around Koujirou's waist, his free hand clinging to his fin as Koujirou pushed both of them through the water. It was one of those occasions when Koujirou was the happiest, the smile never leaving his face. Sakuma would never get tired of watching him, of seeing that warm smile of his that he loved so much.

When Sakuma was growing tired of being in the water, Koujirou quickly brought him back to shore, letting him sit back on the rocks before pushing himself on them, curling up at Sakuma's side and simply watching the scenery as he rested.

Watching the sun disappear under the horizon, Sakuma turned to the merfolk at his side, curled up on himself as he peacefully napped without a care in the world. With a soft smile, he gently brushed his hair with a hand, his fingers gently trailing down his cheek, his neck, his shoulders, resting on the first scars they could find, carefully tracing their shape. Koujirou kept doubting himself, constantly asking whether or not he was really fine with loving someone so scarred, so rough and even painful to touch. Sakuma never did and never would care, always holding him a bit closer and letting his kisses linger a bit longer in answer, whispering kind words into his ear until that smile he loved so dearly was shining on his face again.

Sakuma kept gently tracing his scars, committing them to memory. He wanted to remember every single detail of him, even the little things he hated about himself. He wanted to love all of him.

It took a while before Koujirou finally started stirring and waking up, uncurling and stretching as he yawned. Sakuma kept watching him, his hand now resting on his shoulder and caressing his arm.

“Slept well?” Koujirou just nodded as he tried to cover his yawn. “Good. We should head back to the ship now.” A groan.

“Already…?”

“Love, it’s almost nighttime- we have to go back before it gets dark.”

“Fine, fine…”

When he was finally fully awake, Koujirou pushed himself back into the water, waiting for him to move. Sakuma hurried to put his boots on and get up, carefully sliding down the slippery rocks and back on the sand. Walking alongside the shore, he watched as Koujirou lazily followed, his messy hair and dorsal fins the only thing visible above the water. He couldn’t really help the smile on his face.

He wouldn’t trade any of this for anything in the world.


End file.
